Self-propelled cleaning appliance

ABSTRACT

A self-propelled cleaning appliance has a drive unit for moving the cleaning appliance within an environment, a communication interface for outputting a message to a user of the cleaning appliance, an obstacle detection device for detecting obstacles within the environment and a computing device that generates an environment map based on the obstacles detected by the obstacle detection device and for transmitting control commands to the communication interface. The computing device is designed for determining a first environment section, in which a position of a movable obstacle changes in a recurring manner, and for determining a second environment section that could only be cleaned incompletely. The computing device compares the position of the determined first environment section with the position of the determined second environment section and outputs a message concerning the movable obstacle to a user of the cleaning appliance via the communication interface if the positions match.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of German Application No. 10 2020 129 026.8 filed Nov. 4, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The invention pertains to a self-propelled cleaning appliance with a drive unit for moving the cleaning appliance within an environment, a communication interface for outputting a message to a user of the cleaning appliance, an obstacle detection device for detecting obstacles within the environment and a computing device that is designed for generating an environment map based on the obstacles detected by the obstacle detection device and for transmitting control commands to the communication interface, wherein the computing device furthermore is designed for on the one hand determining a first environment section, in which a position of the movable obstacle changes in a recurring manner, and for on the other hand determining a second environment section that could only be cleaned incompletely.

2. Description of the Related Art

Cleaning appliances of the above-described type are sufficiently known from the prior art. They are usually referred to as cleaning robots and may be realized, for example, in the form of mobile vacuum cleaners, wiping appliances or combined vacuuming-wiping appliances.

Self-propelled cleaning appliances usually have a computing device that is designed for navigating the cleaning appliance within an environment. An obstacle detection device is assigned to the computing device and, for example, measures distances to obstacles present in the environment, wherein said obstacle detection device transmits these measured distances to the computing device in order to generate an environment map. The thusly generated environment map can then be used by the computing device for localizing and navigating the cleaning appliance in the environment. It is also possible, in particular, to establish a route plan in order to navigate the cleaning appliance through the environment based on a planned, predefined route, e.g. in order to carry out defined successive cleaning activities in the course of a cleaning schedule.

During a cleaning process, the computing device controls the movement of the cleaning appliance through the environment and preferably records environment sections that were already cleaned by the cleaning appliance. Environment sections that are not cleaned yet or cleaned incompletely are likewise detected and documented. For example, this documentation takes place directly in the environment map, in which cleaned and uncleaned environment sections are marked. The environment map furthermore contains entries on the positions of detected obstacles. Obstacles are on the one hand room boundaries and on the other hand objects such as pieces of furniture, decorative objects or the like.

It is furthermore known from the prior art to detect movable obstacles. For example, these obstacles may be smaller pieces of furniture, decorative objects or also persons and animals. The computing device determines such movable obstacles, for example, by comparing successively generated environment maps and/or based on a moving speed of the obstacle.

In order to clean an environment section with movable obstacles as completely as possible, it is known from the prior art to detect when a movable obstacle leaves an environment section. The cleaning appliance is then purposefully controlled to this location. Alternatively, known cleaning appliances also utilize a random travel route, wherein as many environment sections as possible are cleaned under the assumption that movable obstacles change their position from time to time.

In this context, it is disadvantageous that the environment sections with movable obstacles cannot be regularly accessed such that an environment with multiple environment sections frequently is cleaned incompletely or at least unevenly and environment sections remain, in which dust and dirt gradually accumulate and have to be manually removed by the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Based on the above-described prior art, the invention therefore aims to develop a cleaning appliance, which autonomously cleans an environment in such a way that manual secondary cleaning processes by the user preferably are completely or at least largely eliminated and the environment is evenly cleaned, particularly also in environment sections with movable obstacles.

In order to attain this objective, it is proposed that the computing device of the cleaning appliance is designed for comparing the position of the determined first environment section with the position of the determined second environment section and for outputting a message concerning the movable obstacle to a user of the cleaning appliance via the communication interface if the positions match.

According to the invention, the computing device therefore determines environment sections that on the one hand are cleaned incompletely or unevenly and on the other hand contain movable obstacles. If both aforementioned prerequisites apply to the same environment section of the environment, it is concluded that the obstacle present at this location prevents optimal cleaning, particularly even cleaning, of the environment section. Since the computing device also has information to the effect that a detected obstacle is a movable obstacle, a message is output to the user of the cleaning appliance so as to enable this user to take measures for achieving optimal cleaning of the environment section. In order to achieve the best cleaning result possible, a thusly designed cleaning robot therefore outputs to the user a message indicating that a movable obstacle such as a chair is present in a certain environment section and prevents optimal cleaning of this environment section. To this end, the cleaning appliance initially determines locations in which movable obstacles are situated. The cleaning appliance furthermore determines environment sections that could not be cleaned at all or only cleaned with little success. The determined locations of the dirt accumulation and of the movable obstacles are compared with one another, wherein a message is output to the user if the locations match. The user therefore does not have to rely on the cleaning appliance incidentally reaching a position, which previously was blocked by a movable obstacle, during a subsequent cleaning run.

It is proposed that the computing device is designed for determining a position change of the movable obstacle by comparing multiple successively generated environment maps. For example, the cleaning appliance can compare an environment map generated during a current cleaning run with a most recently generated environment map in order to identify one or more movable obstacles based on differences between the two environment maps. For example, an environment map can be generated in this way after each work routine, particularly after executing an operation schedule containing predefined chronological and locational specifications, and compared with one or more preceding environment maps. Position changes of movable obstacles are thereby detected. For example, a chair that was used at an earlier point in time may not once again stand in exactly the same position as prior to its use.

Furthermore, the cleaning appliance preferably has a dirt sensor that is designed for determining a degree of dirt accumulation of an environment section. The dirt sensor is designed for identifying environment sections that could not be cleaned at all or only cleaned incompletely, unevenly and/or with a greater expenditure of time than a standard. In this way, environment sections that are difficult to clean can be identified and stored in the environment map.

The dirt sensor may have a camera with an assigned image processing device or a particle sensor. The cleaning appliance particularly has a camera that records images of the environment, which are compared with reference images of the environment by means of an assigned image processing device. The cleaning appliance may alternatively or additionally also have a particle sensor that measures, particularly quantifies, dirt and/or dust particles that were removed from a surface to be cleaned by the cleaning appliance, e.g., with a suction fan or a wiping doth. In this way, an individual degree of dirt accumulation can be determined for each environment section of the environment and registered in the environment map. Furthermore, deviations of the determined degrees of dirt accumulation from a reference can thereby be detected.

It is particularly proposed that the message, which is output to the user in the case of a match between a position of a movable obstacle and a position of an incomplete cleaning process, contains a request to manually remove the obstacle from the defined environment section. In addition, the message particularly contains a request to move the movable obstacle to a certain location defined in the message. The message preferably suggests to the user of the cleaning appliance that the movable obstacle should be directly carried to a different position in the environment after its next use. For example, the user may be asked to no longer place a chair into the same position as before, e.g., to no longer move the chair back to a table, but rather to remove the chair from the table. After the identification of obstacles that prevent optimal cleaning, the user therefore receives a suggestion to suitably move these obstacles in such a way that environment sections, which previously were blocked by these obstacles, can be cleaned. In a next work step, the cleaning appliance can then remove a dirt accumulation from the respective location once the user has removed the obstacle from this location.

It is particularly preferred that the message to the user contains an image or a graphic representation of the movable obstacle, If the cleaning appliance is equipped with a camera, for example, an image recorded by the camera can be directly displayed to the user, e.g., on a display of the cleaning appliance or also on an external terminal, As an alternative to a photograph, the message may also contain a graphic representation of the movable obstacle such as an icon that is representative for a certain type of movable objects, e.g., an icon that depicts a chair, an armchair, a side table or the like.

It s furthermore proposed that the movable obstacle is a piece of furniture, wherein the cleaning appliance has a memory with reference parameters of defined pieces of furniture, and wherein the computing device is designed for comparing parameters of a detected movable obstacle with the stored reference parameters. In this way, a detected obstacle can be identified with respect to its type and, for example, a message reflecting the type of obstacle to be moved can be directly transmitted to the user. For example, the message may directly contain a text component such as “chair” or a graphically represented chair symbol.

It is furthermore proposed that the communication interface is designed for directly outputting the message to the user in the form of an optical signal or an acoustical signal or for transmitting the message to an external terminal of the user, which is communicatively linked to the cleaning appliance, via wireless data communication. In the first-mentioned design, the communication interface of the cleaning appliance is equipped, for example, with a display or a loudspeaker. An image or a symbol representing the movable obstacle or alternatively text describing the movable obstacle can be displayed to the user on the display of the cleaning appliance. Alternatively, an acoustical signal may also be output to the user, e.g. in the form of a voice output that contains a request such as “Please do not place the chair back at the table.” According to another embodiment, the communication interface of the cleaning appliance may transmit the message to an external terminal of the user such as a mobile telephone, a tablet computer, a laptop order like. The data transmission preferably takes place wirelessly via a home network or the Internet. In this case, a display of the mobile terminal can be used for displaying text, an image and/or a symbol. The mobile terminal may alternatively also activate a corresponding voice output that contains a message for the user,

The obstacle detection device of the cleaning appliance preferably is designed for also detecting the removal of the movable obstacle from the environment section and for correspondingly notifying the computing device, wherein the computing device is designed for subsequently controlling a cleaning process of the environment section. The obstacle detection device can once again detect obstacles in the environment during a cleaning run and transmit corresponding information to the computing device, wherein the computing device subsequently determines that a movable obstacle is no longer present in the respective environment section based on a comparison with older environment maps. The computing device can then control the cleaning appliance in such a way that it moves to the previous position of the movable obstacle and carries out a cleaning process at this location. It is particularly preferred that the user can subsequently receive a message to the effect that the corresponding position of the environment has been cleaned and the user can now return the movable obstacle to the desired location via the communication interface of the cleaning appliance.

Furthermore, the computing device may be designed for receiving information of the user to the effect that the obstacle has been removed from the environment section via the communication interface of the cleaning appliance and for subsequently starting a cleaning process of the environment section. According to this embodiment, the cleaning appliance or its obstacle detection device does not have to autonomously detect that the movable obstacle has been removed. In fact, the user inputs corresponding information via the communication interface of the cleaning appliance, preferably also with the aid of an external terminal. The computing device of the cleaning appliance processes the information of the user in such a way that the environment section, from which the movable obstacle was removed, is subsequently cleaned. A corresponding message can once again be output to the user once this task is completed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed as an illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention,

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 shows an inventive cleaning appliance;

FIG. 2 shows an environment map comprising multiple environment sections with movable and immovable obstacles; and

FIG. 3 shows an external terminal of a user with a display for displaying messages.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a self-propelled cleaning appliance 1. In this case, the cleaning appliance 1 is a vacuuming robot with a cleaning element 16 in the form of a cleaning brush that rotates about an essentially horizontal axis. The cleaning appliance 1 has wheels 15 and a drive unit 2 for the wheels 15 in order to realize its autonomous movement, wherein said drive unit 2 comprises a not-shown electric motor. The cleaning appliance 1 furthermore has a communication interface 3 for the wireless communication with an external terminal 14 (see FIG. 3). The cleaning appliance 1 can be incorporated, for example, into a home network or also connected to the Internet by means of communication interface 3. An obstacle detection device 5 of the cleaning appliance 1 is designed for detecting obstacles 6, 7 in the environment of the cleaning appliance 1. The obstacles 6, 7 may on the one hand be stationary obstacles 6, e.g., large pieces of furniture such as cabinets, beds and the like, and on the other hand movable obstacles 7 such as small pieces of furniture, e.g., chairs, side tables and the like. In this example, the obstacle detection device 5 is a distance measuring device that measures distances from the cleaning appliance 1 to the obstacles 6, 7. The obstacle detection device 5 particularly may be an optical measuring device such as a triangulation measuring device that measures around the obstacle detection device 5 over an angular range of 360 degrees. The cleaning appliance 1 is equipped with a computing device 8 that can generate an environment map 9 (see FIG. 2) representing a floor plan of the environment based on the distances measured by the obstacle detection device 5. In this case, the floor plan corresponds to a floor of a residence or a house with multiple rooms, which in turn are divided into environment sections 10, 11. In addition to the room boundaries, the environment map 9 also contains the detected obstacles, 6, 7, as well as a current location of the cleaning appliance 1. The computing device 8 can detect the current position of the cleaning appliance 1 based on the environment map 9 and continuously update the current position in the environment map 9. The cleaning appliance 1 furthermore can detect a state of dirt accumulation of the environment by means of a dirt sensor 12. For example, the dirt sensor 12 may comprise a camera in connection with image processing software, which based on an image comparison classifies current states of dirt accumulation as average, below average or above average. Other exemplary classifications may be low, medium, high or the like. The computing device 8 furthermore can enter these determined degrees of dirt accumulation into the environment map 9. A memory 13 of the cleaning appliance 1 may contain images of reference degrees of dirt accumulation, which can be compared with an image that is currently recorded by the dirt sensor 12 in order to determine a degree of dirt accumulation. The environment map 9 may likewise be stored in the memory 13.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary environment map 9 generated by the cleaning appliance 1. This environment map 9 may be generated, for example, in the course of a so-called SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) process. In this case, the obstacle detection device 5 of the cleaning appliance 1 continuously measures distances to obstacles, 6, 7 in the environment and generates the environment map 9 based on the measured distances whereas the cleaning appliance 1 at the same time localizes itself with the aid of the already existing parts of the environment map 9 and continuously matches currently detected obstacle data with the data stored in the environment map 9. The merely exemplary environment map 9 contains a plurality of obstacles 6, 7, wherein stationary obstacles, 6 (that usually are not moved by the user) are distinguished from movable obstacles 7 (that are frequently moved by the user) in order to better illustrate the invention, Multiple environment sections 10, 11, are marked in the environment map 9, wherein the environment sections 10 represent regions of the environment that contain a movable obstacle 7 and the environment sections 11 characterize regions of the environment, in which the dirt sensor 12 of the cleaning appliance 1 has detected a degree of dirt accumulation that is higher than a reference.

FIG. 3 shows an external terminal 14 of a user of the cleaning appliance 1 in the form of a mobile telephone. The external terminal 14 conventionally has a display 17, on which messages can be displayed to the user. In this case, the display. 17 shows a request for the user to keep a certain obstacle 7 (chair) away from a defined environment section 10, 11 (surroundings of the table).

In a potential embodiment, the invention is carried out in that the cleaning appliance 1 initially generates an environment map 9 of the environment by means of its computing device 8. According to the example illustrated in FIG. 2, obstacles, 6, 7 detected by the obstacle detection device 5 of the cleaning appliance 1 during an exploratory run or a work run are registered in this environment map 9. Furthermore, the cleaning appliance 1 detects environment sections 11 of the environment, in which dirt has accumulated beyond a standard value, by means of its dirt sensor 12. Such environment sections 11 are located, for example, in the region of smaller pieces of furniture, the surroundings of which cannot be completely cleaned by the cleaning appliance 1. For example, environment sections 11 with such obstacles 7 are regions underneath chairs, between the chair legs of which the cleaning appliance 1 cannot pass through. The environment section 11, in which this obstacle 7 is located, consequently cannot be optimally cleaned. Small pieces of furniture such as chairs are movable obstacles 7, which are frequently carried or pushed back and forth by a user. This is the reason why these obstacles are identified as movable obstacles 7 in the environment map 9 whereas larger, immobile pieces of furniture are in this example identified as obstacles 6. These immobile pieces of furniture include kitchen cabinets, sideboards, beds and the like.

The cleaning appliance 1 continuously generates a new, current environment map 9 by means of the computing device 8 based on the obstacles 6, 7 detected by the obstacle detection device 5, as well as the detection signals of the dirt sensor 12, and preferably stores this environment map in the memory 13. The generated environment map 9 is compared with one or more older environment maps 9 and analyzed with respect to position changes of movable obstacles 7 after each exploratory run or cleaning run. The computing device 8 can determine that a movable object 7 was placed in a different position within the environment by comparing successively recorded environment maps 9. For example, such a movable obstacle 7 may be a chair, which previously was positioned in a dining set and subsequently was returned into a slightly different position after the user left the dining table. The successively generated environment maps 9 are furthermore analyzed with respect to environment sections 11 with degrees of dirt accumulation that deviate from a standard. For example, this may concern environment sections 11 that could not be cleaned at all or only cleaned incompletely, inhomogenously or with a great expenditure of time.

The computing device 8 subsequently compares the positions of the detected environment sections 11 with an incomplete or otherwise sub-optimal cleaning result and the environment sections 10 with movable obstacles 7. When the computing device 8 determines that an environment section 10, 11 of the invention belongs to the environment sections 10 with movable obstacles 7, as well as to the environment sections 11 with an incomplete or sub-optimal cleaning result, this environment section is marked in the environment map 9. The computing device 8 determines a solution proposal, which is output on the display 17 of the external terminal 14 of the user as illustrated in FIG. 3, by comparing the environment sections 11 that are difficult to clean with the environment sections 10, in which movable obstacles 7 are located. In this case, the message 4 “Please do not place chair back at the table” is output in order to thereby ask the user to not place the movable obstacle 7 “chair” back into the previous position, namely not into the environment section 10, after its next use. This may be realized, for example, in that the user no longer returns the chair to the dining set or moves the chair to the table, but rather places the chair slightly away from this position. Since the movable obstacles 7 are thereby purposefully moved, it is ensured that all environment sections 10, 11 of the environment are evenly, regularly and homogenously cleaned.

In contrast to the message 4 in text form illustrated in FIG. 3, a message 4 in the form of an image or an icon representing the obstacle 7 to be moved may also be displayed to the user. In addition, it would also be possible, for example, to display an image of the room containing this movable obstacle 7. The image itself may be recorded by an obstacle detection device 5 of the cleaning appliance 1, particularly a camera. As an alternative to the output of messages 4 on an external terminal 14, the cleaning appliance 1 may also be equipped with its own display 17, on which messages 4 are displayed to the user, Furthermore, the communication interface 3 of the cleaning appliance 1 may output an optical or acoustical message 4, e.g., a voice message, a signal that is projected on a wall or the like.

After the user has received the message 4 and placed the movable object 7 in a location that currently is not cleaned by the cleaning appliance 1, the user can transmit information to the effect that the movable obstacle 7 has been removed from the environment section 11 to be cleaned to the computing device 8 of the cleaning appliance 1, e.g., by means of a touch-sensitive display 17 of the external terminal 14. The computing device 8 can then start a cleaning process in the respective environment section 11. Alternatively, the cleaning appliance 1 can also determine that the movable obstacle 7 has been removed from the environment section 11 autonomously, particularly with the assistance of its obstacle detection device 5, and then accordingly control the cleaning process of the environment section 11.

Although only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it is to be understood that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

-   1 Cleaning appliance -   2 Drive unit -   3 Communication interface -   4 Message -   5 Obstacle detection device -   6 Obstacle -   7 Obstacle -   8 Computing device -   9 Environment map -   10 Environment section -   11 Environment section -   12 Dirt sensor -   13 Memory -   14 External terminal -   15 Wheel -   16 Cleaning element -   17 Display 

What is claimed is:
 1. A self-propelled cleaning appliance comprising: a drive unit configured for moving the cleaning appliance within an environment, a communication interface configured for outputting a message to a user of the cleaning appliance, an obstacle detection device for detecting obstacles within the environment, and a computing device that is designed for generating an environment map based on the obstacles detected by the obstacle detection device and for transmitting control commands to the communication interface, wherein the computing device is designed for determining a first environment section, in which a position of a movable obstacle changes in a recurring manner, and for determining a second environment section that could only be cleaned incompletely, wherein the computing device is designed for comparing the position of the determined first environment section with the position of the determined second environment section and for outputting a message concerning the movable obstacle to a user of the cleaning appliance via the communication interface if the positions match, wherein the computing device is designed for determining a recurring position change of the movable obstacle by comparing multiple successively generated environment maps, and wherein the message contains a request to manually remove the obstacle from the defined environment section, by moving the obstacle to a certain location that is defined in the message and located outside the environment section, in which the position of the movable obstacle changes in a recurring manner.
 2. The cleaning appliance according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning appliance has a dirt sensor, which is designed for determining a degree of dirt accumulation of an environment section.
 3. The cleaning appliance according to claim 2, wherein the dirt sensor comprises a camera with an assigned image processing device or a particle sensor.
 4. The cleaning appliance according to claim 1, wherein the message contains an image or a graphic representation of the movable obstacle. The cleaning appliance according to claim 1, wherein the movable obstacle is a piece of furniture, wherein the cleaning appliance has a memory with reference parameters of defined pieces of furniture, and wherein the computing device is designed for comparing parameters of a detected movable obstacle with the stored reference parameters.
 6. The cleaning appliance according to claim 1, wherein the communication interface is designed for directly outputting the message to a user in the form of an optical signal or an acoustical signal or for transmitting the message to an external terminal of the user, which is communicatively linked to the cleaning appliance, via wireless data communication.
 7. The cleaning appliance according to claim 1, wherein the obstacle detection device is designed for detecting the removal of the movable obstacle from the environment section and for correspondingly notifying the computing device, wherein the computing device is designed for subsequently controlling a cleaning process of the environment section.
 8. The cleaning appliance according to claim 1, wherein the computing device is designed for receiving information of the user to the effect that the obstacle has been removed from the environment section via the communication interface of the cleaning appliance and for subsequently starting a cleaning process of the environment section. 